Senator Barack Obama recently had some harsh words for those he feels have “hijacked” faith and “exploited and politicized religious beliefs in an effort to sow division.”

Obama, speaking to the national convention of the United Church of Christ, continued: “Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and faith started being used to drive us apart.” Of course the senator blamed the “Christian Right” (a term he does not here define) as being all too eager to divide rather than bring together around the campfire.

What strikes me about Obama’s comments is just how underdeveloped his take on faith truly is. Faith, by its very nature, divides; much less biblical faith. Since Obama claims to be a Christian, it might be helpful to examine how Christ understood at least part of what He came to do. Consider Luke 12:49-53, where Jesus says:

I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.

While I understand Obama’s politicized point, it is just that: a politicized point. It is not anything representing true biblical faith. Obama paints a picture of a campfire singalong to the chorus of Kum Ba Yah while Jesus says that part of His ministry will actually bring division, rather than the unity that Obama seems to so wistful for. I wonder what Obama would say to Jesus’ own question: “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth?”

The Gospel, by its very nature separates people with its radical claims on all of life. It asserts, not only that there is right and wrong but that some people are wrong and that not everyone can be right. We are not free to define the content of faith simply so we can claim an empty unity. Faith in this sense is meaningless because it is nothing more than a postmodern catchphrase that means nothing and in the end, false unity is worse than honest divisions. Obama empties faith language of anything that makes it meaningful in the first place for the sake of pretending to bring people together which is far worse than honestly dividing over strongly held faith commitments.

In the end, Obama is doing the same thing he sounds so frustrated about. He’s using faith (his version) to divide rather than bring together. If he were sincere about faith “bringing us together,” besides the fact that that faith would have no content, he wouldn’t point fingers as he does; he’s just as willing to exclude some as those he derides. This is nothing more than a not-so-veiled attempt to put his finger in the faith/politics game so that he can say, “See, I talk about faith too!.” But in order to do so, he has to find some way to make nis non-faith seem acceptable. The only way to do that is to discredit mainstream approaches which understand that faith separates.

Faith unites the likeminded while bringing division elsewhere. When religious faith is defined, by default, most versions claim that someone else is wrong. Positives also have negatives. Once we claim a positive faith in something, we are saying others are wrong. Jesus Himself said that no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6) and Acts 4:12 reminds us that salvation is found in no other name. Surely these truths will bring some division when proclaimed. Obama must be willing to say that everyone is right in order to say that faith’s only function is to “bring us together.”

We can take Obama’s point and find some useful reminders. Too often biblical faith divides, not because of its content but the way it is presented. It is sometimes potrayed in an angry, even prideful manner. For that, we must thank Obama for his reminder that are always to “consider others as more significant than ourselves in humility,” (Philippians 2:3), putting on “compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Colossians 3:12). We must be vigilant that the way we present and apply the Gospel does not distract from its content. The content of the Gospel is divisive enough, it doesn’t need our help. But, somehow, I don’t think this was Obama’s point.

We should not be surprised at, nor should we lament the divisive effects of faith. John says that we should not be surprised when the world hates us (1 John 3:13) and Jesus reminded his disciples that a servant “is not above his master” and that just as the world hated and persecuted Him, they will do the same to His disciples (Matthew 10:23-25). As warm and fuzzy is Obama’s conception of faith, it is simply not biblical and he must be called out for using the political/religious rhetoric he is so critical of.

• Read the original article
• Read Obama’s books
• Read Active Faith: How Christians Are Changing the Face of American Politics by Ralph Reed
• Read The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World by Ronald J. Sider
• Read Knowing God by J.I. Packer